Ides of March is an intriguing movie of how the political process works in America. The movie follows the final days of a close Democratic primary battle in Ohio. The thing I really liked is that this movie had little to do with political ideology. This could very well have been a movie about a Republican primary. It illustrates how little ideology has to do with how campaigns are run and the compromises and back room deals that even the most idealistic candidate must make in order to win.
The film follows the campaign of Governor Mike Morris (played presidentially by George Clooney) as he campaigns to win the Ohio primary, a must win State if one wants to win the Presidency. The story is told through the perspective of a young, up and coming, and idealistic press secretary; Steven Myers (played by one of my new favorite actors, Ryan Gosling). Gosling is in his element here and delivers another knock out performance. Like Tom Cruise, Gosling can act with intensity, yet Gosling doesn’t have to demonstrate it over the top like Cruise. You can sense the power behind his subtle facial expressions. Gosling had no trouble holding his own with veteran actors, Clooney, Giamati, and Hoffman. No dismissive accomplishment when you consider Clooney had a mullet and was appearing on bad sitcoms when he was Gosling’s age.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays Myer’s boss, Paul Zara and the great Paul Giamatti plays the opposing press secretary, Tom Duffy. Again, political ideology is not the focus of this film as it takes place almost entirely in the Democratic circle. Republicans are barely mentioned. Myers lives and breathes the campaign and is the one person who is not a realist among the ensemble. He truly believes in Gov. Morris and is able to justify his spins to the press as what is necessary to propel his righteous candidate to the White House. What he doesn’t know is that political story spinning to the press is the least of the evils that must be done in the game of politics. His boss Paul warns him that he must be careful in idolizing great men as, like anyone, they will invariably disillusion you.
What we don’t realize is the depths of amorality that Steven is capable of when pushed. The director does a credible and capable job at revealing the change in Steven as his illusions crumble around him. You see that no matter who you are, ideals will eventually give way to reality in politics. Steven becomes more adept and ruthless than either he or the audience thought he was capable. The young intern Molly (played seductively by Evan Rachael Woods) is the catalyst that starts Steven’s downward path (or correct path depending on your point of view). As a scandal breaks out when the Governor is accused of having an affair with the young intern, all chaos and panic breaks loose in the campaign. Paul mentors young Steven; a candidate can start a war or drive the country to bankruptcy, but his campaign can’t survive an intern scandal (or something to that effect).
All the players, including the idolized Governor Morris, start to show their true talents in politics as they make compromises and back room deals in order to keep the campaign alive. Each person, including the young and naive Steven, try to orchestrate Machiavellian moves in an escalating game of one up-manship. Not only are they fighting their opponents in the other camp, but they soon turn on each other.
The film is powerful and flows like a suspense and intrigue movie. It doesn’t tell us anything we don’t already know or haven’t heard or suspected about politics, but to see it laid out before us is truly sobering. We see that ultimately, the person who wins has had to put his ideology on the back burner to achieve his position. Republican or Democrat, it doesn’t matter; all that matters is winning. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but one that makes us realize why things really never change significantly, no matter what we are promised on the campaign trail. I give this movie top marks for superior acting performances from a superior ensemble of actors.
I give this movie ****stars
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